MALIBU, Calif. - The #16 Pepperdine men's tennis team won five of six singles matches to defeat #27 Fresno State, 5-2, at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs (7-5) won the doubles point, but the Waves (4-3) won the first four singles matches in straight sets to earn the overall victory.

"It's a good win against a really good Fresno State team," Pepperdine Coach Adam Steinberg said. "Their coach is one of my best friends and he does an amazing job there. Doubles is their team's strength, so I'm proud of our guys for fighting back in singles. The bottom line is that we have to get better in doubles. It's too hard when you're playing good teams to put yourself in the position where you have to win four singles matches."

Senior Bassam Beidas (Cairo, Egypt) and sophomore Alex Llompart (Carolina, Puerto Rico) won at #2 doubles and then won both of their singles matches at the top of the ladder. Llompart played at the #1 position for the first time this season and defeated Rikus de Villiers (a former Pepperdine player who transferred to Fresno State), 6-4, 7-6. At the #2 position, Beidas earned an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Freshman Mousheg Hovhannisyan (North Hollywood, Calif.) and sophomore Daniel Moss (Malibu, Calif.) had the other straight-set wins in singles, with Hovhannisyan beating the nation's 112th-ranked player and Moss getting the match-clinching victory. Freshman Finn Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand) ended the day by rallying for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win at #5.

The Waves head cross-country for their next two matches, as they visit #28 Alabama on Friday (Feb. 26) and #19 Florida State on Saturday (Feb. 27). Steinberg was the head coach at Alabama from 1998-2002.

#16 Pepperdine 5, #27 Fresno State 2

Doubles

• 1) #23 Remi Boutillier/Rikus de Villiers (FS) def. Hugh Clarke/Finn Tearney (PEP), 9-7
• 2) Bassam Beidas/Alex Llompart (PEP) def. Taylor Leiby/Mirko Zapletal (FS), 8-5
• 3) Siddharth Alapati/Tejesvi Veerepalli (FS) def. Sebastian Fanselow/Stuart Keplar (PEP), 8-5

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles

• 1) Alex Llompart (PEP) def. Rikus de Villiers (FS), 6-4, 7-6 (1)
• 2) #44 Bassam Beidas (PEP) def. Mirko Zapletal (FS), 6-2, 6-2
• 3) Remi Boutillier (FS) def. Sebastian Fanselow (PEP), 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5)
• 4) Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. #112 Tejesvi Veerepalli (FS), 7-6, 6-1
• 5) #115 Finn Tearney (PEP) def. David Ayoun (FS), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
• 6) Daniel Moss (PEP) def. Siddharth Alapati (FS), 7-5, 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 6, 3, 5

Records: Pepperdine 4-3, Fresno State 7-5